Questions about hatchling feeding from you breeders...

I am a little troubled by a response I received from someone who purchased some of my Okeetee babies. I wanted the opinions of those of you who breed out there to see if I'm not in line with what I should be doing or if I'm on track. These are not my first clutches and my last clutches did fine. I routinely feed my hatchlings their first meal after their first shed. Usually the next night. I feed day old pinkies. I usually feed every four to five days. My hatchlings at this time are 6 and 8 weeks old. They are eating medium sized pinkies now. I was told by the individual when he called to tell me that the snakes had arrived safely that he liked them but was surprised they were eating pinkies. He said he feeds the day they hatch and at this age they are on hoppers. Hoppers?? Am I underfeeding my snakes that much? I have yearlings on large hoppers, but never had a 2 month old hatchling eating that. Is anyone else feeding hoppers to their 6 and 8 week old babies? I feed regularly, but never huge meals. I don't like overfeeding and prefer to let my snakes mature at a regular rate. They are all over 300 grams by breeding age and most are over 400 grams. They are also over 4 ft. long at 3 years old, so I can't imagine I've been underfeeding snakes for years. It pisses me off a bit that he's implying that I don't feed my snakes or that I'm doing some kind of...gasp..."maintenance feeding"! He has all feed/shed records from day one and can see the frequency of feeding.

Believe me I am no expert, he is saying he feeds a 6-8 week old hatchlings hoppers.. My yearlings take small hoppers or large fuzzies, they seem to be a good size to me one is 100 born late 2006, the other 150 born early 2006. I don't know but a hopper for a baby, no. susan

I don't think you have done anything wrong. Hoppers at 8 weeks? Please. I offer hatchlings day old pinks prior to first shed as well and the largest any of my best eaters at that age is on fuzzies.IMHO he/she is full of it.

I am not a breeder....

Is this the person's first snake? Perhaps he has his sizes/names mixed up?
I know one store I went to called their pinkies "newbies", fuzzies "hoppers" and the hoppers were labeled "crawlers". Then they had small, medium and large "adults". Very confusing for the new owner.

I would be terribly concerned that a meal of that size would begin to rot before a little one could digest it...if it was able to choke it down in the first place. uke01:

I believe your experience far outweighs his "power feeding" if that is his "strategy". IMHO

I got 2 snakes from a well know breeder to this forum. One was 5 months old and weighed 6 grams and one was 3 months old and weighed 9 grams. You can bet they were feeding on pinky's. Four months later they are 49 and 61 grams and feeding on rat pinks which are not quite the size of hoppers. Both are growing and shedding fine.

:-offtopic I often give talks to large audiences. Afterwards, people come up to me and give me positive feedback on my material. Every now and again I'll get that 1 person who will have something negative to say and dammit if I negate the 75 who gave me (+) feedback and focus on the 1 who's feedback was (-). For what it's worth, I don't know you other than reading your posts over the past couple years and I would not hesitate for one second to do business with you based on the reputation you've earned in this forum.:cheers:

I am doing the very same thing you are.. Maybe he was just trying to feed you a line to get some of his money back or something?? Sorry you had to deal with someone like that. You have a great rep so dont let that One person spoil your mood or make you second guess yourself.

MegF. said:

My hatchlings at this time are 6 and 8 weeks old. They are eating medium sized pinkies now. I was told by the individual when he called to tell me that the snakes had arrived safely that he liked them but was surprised they were eating pinkies. He said he feeds the day they hatch and at this age they are on hoppers. Hoppers??

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That can't be right. I just recently got most of my 06s switched to hoppers, and the late ones are still on fuzzies or pinks. I think he's confusing small fuzzies with hoppers. Maybe where he buys his mice has smaller than normal portions :shrugs:

He's a breeder, not a first time buyer. I don't think he was wanting his money back, but it just struck me as a bit of a dig at me when he said that. He may have not meant anything by it at all and I just took it wrong. Perhaps he meant to say fuzzies, although I wouldn't be feeding them fuzzies either at this point. Most could take a large pinky now...and might have to work at it a bit, but they are by no means underfed. Thanks for your kind words Danny. I appreciate it. My reputation is very important with me, not only with people I deal with here, but in all my business dealings. I'm also glad that I'm not the only one who found it a bit strange that he was feeding so much. I told him that they were his now and he could feed them like he wanted. I told him I don't overfeed and prefer my animals to grow at a normal rate. I'm not in a hurry to get them large. I'm hoping he took the hint that I felt he was power feeding....my poor children!! Anyway, I feel better that I'm on track and that no one thinks I'm out of line in my feeding regimen! Thank you all!

I got some year old corns from a well known and respected breeder that looked small to me and just about doubled in size in the few months I've had them. But they were otherwise healthy and beautiful and never refused a meal. I can only assume this person had a lot of snakes and was keeping them on a (gasp) maintenance diet. To me it isn't a huge deal because they are great eaters and growing well for me, besides I'd rather see a snake grow a bit too slow than too fast if that makes any sense. It sounds like the person who bought your snakes might be power feeding and trying to grow them up quickly so I don't think you should let it get to you. Hoppers are big, there's no way a 6-8 week old baby should be able to eat one! I do have one '07 (from Carol ) that is already taking peach fuzzys but most of mine are on large pinkys or smaller.

That's just the point. I don't maintenance feed, unless feeding every 4-5 days is maintenance feeding. Besides, we should be feeding for maintenance, not for size. I'm not sure what the hurry is! The longest these babies have waited for a meal is 6 days...oooooohhhh I'm starving them!

Well for me this is the first year I've fed every 5 days. So I guess I have really been starving mine, for the past few years I fed all hatchlings once a week. The yearling snakes I mentioned in my post are fed every 7 days, and they still doubled in size. The every 5 day thing I am doing for the first time this year because I have seen so many people say it works better that I thought I'd try it. But I know a lot of people feed once a week and their babies do fine. If a baby is always full how much exercise is it getting? I'm not sure what the hurry is either unless you want to be able to breed them as 2 year olds? :headbang:

Exactly my thought when he told me that!

I find it hard to believe that a two month old corn would be on hoppers; and that sounds unhealthy anyways. You'd have to be feeding them every other day to get them to that size. I think every 4-5 days is more than just fine.

I think he must've meant fuzzies. My fastest growers JUST switched to small fuzzies at 2 months. All my slower growers were still on pinks until 3 months. Even my fastest growers were still on single hoppers at 9 months, and they weighed almost 100g then. He must've meant fuzzies.

p.s. I meant to add that I'd guess that all of my snakes will be breeding weight (unbrumated) by 2 years, even the ones that were still on pinks at 2 months.

Don't let an impatient "power-feeder" get to you or sway you from what sounds like a very good feeding regimen for your babies. I 100% agree that fast growth should not be the primary goal or concern.

I suspect he did mean fuzzies, but still that's pretty large. These guys are just getting on med/large pinkies now. And they look big to me....but not to them

Lol

Tell him I said he should quick smoking crack its killing his brain cells!

I'm not a breeder but...

I agree with everyone else that's been saying he must've meant fuzzies. Even if he was feeding them every two days, they couldn't possibly be on anything more than fuzzies. Zeebo's an early '06 and he's just now getting to hoppers. My advice, don't sell to that guy again

LOL!! What would I do without you Stephen!!???
Anyway, I feel more comfortable about it. He might not have meant any criticism at all and was just making talk as in general conversation. The thread about hatchlings being maintenance fed and sent small to England is still fresh in my mind I guess! As long as he's happy about the animals (which he says he is) then I guess that's all that matters in the end.